Identification and Description of Soils Containing Very Coarse Fractions
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 5
Abstract
Current practices are reviewed for the identification, description, and classification of soils containing significant very coarse fractions. The review shows that there are serious shortcomings when these fractions are present. To upgrade current practices, improvements are needed in two areas: (1) the grain-size scale and nomenclature; and (2) the basic system for soil identification. First, an improved grain-size scale is proposed that clarifies the very coarse fractions and other nomenclature. Second, it is shown that current U.S. classification systems can not address the very coarse soils adequately, and they can not be adapted easily to do so. However, a relatively straightforward expansion can be made to the Burmister identification system to incorporate these soils. This Expanded Burmister Soil Identification System is flexible enough to describe and identify soils, ranging from very coarse to very fine, in a complete and consistent manner. Adoption of these two recommendations can improve practice and reduce current ambiguities in dealing with soils containing very coarse fractions.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 5 • May 2009
Pages: 635 - 646
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 3, 2007
Accepted: Aug 5, 2008
Published online: May 1, 2009
Published in print: May 2009
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